The first neurosurgeon appointed
to the Dunedin hub of the South Island Neurosurgical Service,
Ahmad Taha had no plans to stay when he arrived a year ago,
but admits to falling in love with the place and the people.

The Southern District Health Board wanted to appoint a
neurosurgeon for just two years, rather than for a longer
term, causing "some tension" between Dunedin Hospital
management and the South Island neurosurgical service, the
National Health Board's Dunedin Hospital report reveals.

Did the Canterbury District Health Board, which for the
most part chose to stay silent during the debate over
location of South Island neurosurgery services, receive a
fair hearing? Documentation released in February suggests it
feels it did not, writes Elspeth McLean.

Far from being a deliberate ploy,
the five-month delay in releasing correspondence from
Canterbury neurosurgeons sought by the Otago Daily Times last
December was an oversight, deputy director of the National
Health Board Michael Hundleby says.

This month's shortlisting of applicants for two of the three
Dunedin-based neurosurgeon positions shows how quickly the
South Island Neurosurgical Service has been able to make
progress since its first board meeting in January.

While Otago and Southland breathed a sigh of relief after
the announcement last November that neurosurgery would be
retained in Dunedin, many in New Zealand's neurosurgery
community remained unhappy. Correspondence released to the
Otago Daily Times shows how the battle raged on behind
the scenes.